Falcons Take Second at Rocky Mountain Shootout

Oct. 4, 2008

BOULDER, Colo. - With four of its top five scorers finishing within the top-10 of the NCAA Division I field, the Air Force men's cross country team raced to a second-place finish at the annual Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday, Oct. 4. Backed by five scoring freshmen runners, the women's team also earned a second-place team finish at the meet.

Senior co-captain Matt Williams paced the men's team with an 8K time of 25:44. That time was the fourth-best in the NCAA Division I field and the seventh-fastest in the meet, which featured 117 runners from Division I and non-Division I institutions. Sophomore Justin Tyner finished eighth (15th overall) with a time of 26:25, while senior Brad Chronister and junior Zach Nordahl placed ninth and 10th, respectively, with times of 26:44 (22nd overall) and 26:46 (24th). Senior Parker Cowles rounded out the Falcons' scoring runners with an 11th-place (26th) time of 26:49.

The Falcons also had 18 other competitors in the event. Senior Daniel Castle finished 27th overall with a time of 26:53, while classmate Kyle Jones finished 29th in 26:59. Fellow senior Justin Mason clocked in at an even 27 minutes to place 30th, while freshman James Walmsley posted a time of 27:11 to take 34th. Seniors Scott Balcao and Sebastian Ortiz also recorded top-50 times, as Balcao finished 44th behind a time of 27:31 and Ortiz clocked 27:39 to take 47th.

Freshman Jonathan Rock and senior Andy Schweitzer finished within the top half of the field. Rock crossed the finish line in 27:52 to take 55th, while Schweitzer timed in at 28:01 to take 58th. Juniors Conor Murphy and John Oliphint finished 63rd (28:21) and 69th (28:33), respectively. Freshmen Chase Welch (71st/28:39) and Alex Zubey (73rd/28:45) bookended sophomore Tyler Small (72nd/28:42) as the trio finished in consecutive order. Freshmen Ryan Del Grosso (75th/28:56), Nick White (82nd/29:28), Matthew Cain (84th/29:32), Zachary Marx (87th/29:43) and Jacob Fulton (89th/29:50) rounded out the contingent of Air Force runners.

For the second time in three meets, freshman Auriele Fain led the women's program. Fain clocked a 5,800-kilometer time of 22:59, to place eighth in the NCAA Division I field and 17th overall. Classmate Elyse Willard finished 11th (31st overall) with a time of 23:47, while fellow freshman Katherine Carroll recorded a time of 24:09 to finish 13th (36th). Two other freshmen rounded out the scoring runners, as Phaelen French and Meghan Prinkey finished 15th (43rd) and 16th (44th), respectively, with matching times of 24:20.

Four other Falcons competed at the Rocky Mountain Shootout. Junior Danielle Snider clocked a time of 25:14 to finish 61st, while freshman Alexa Ramsier finished 65th with a time of 25:25. Junior Becca Burditt and sophomore Glorimar Torre Santiago rounded out the Air Force runners with times of 26:14 (81st) and 26:32 (84th).

The men tallied 42 points to finish second amongst NCAA Division I teams, trailing only host Colorado, who claimed their 18th straight title. On the women's side, Air Force collected 63 points to finish second to the Buffs, who won their home meet for the 10th straight year.

The Falcons return to action next Saturday (Oct. 11), as they travel to Hays, Kan., for the Fort Hays Invitational.

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